Attn runners: Pain in leg and 1/2 marathon coming up!

diagostinelli
diagostinelli Posts: 3 Member
edited November 16 in Fitness and Exercise
Wondering if anyone can help me figure out what I am doing wrong and what I can do to fix this problem.

Last June I ran a half marathon. Afterwards I had pain that started at the top/back of my right thigh and extended down to the back and outside of my knee. I tried to keep running but felt it wasn't healing so I took a long break and just started running again in January to start preparing for my next half marathon in June.

Have any of you other runners experienced this? What am I doing wrong to cause this pain and what can I do to correct it without completely stopping my training program?

Replies

  • CrabbyCancerMama
    CrabbyCancerMama Posts: 95 Member
    I've never had the pain down the back of my thigh but have had pain on the outside of my knee which is ITB pain. To resolve it is had to rest a few days. I think it was the way I was running, I think I was over striding my steps and inverting my foot. I stopped that and use a foam Roller haven't had any more issues. I highly recommend a foam Roller.
  • L1zardQueen
    L1zardQueen Posts: 8,753 Member
    edited February 2017
    I recommend a visit to your doctor, just to be safe.
  • ariceroni
    ariceroni Posts: 422 Member
    The pain you are describing sounds like a hamstring issue (strain maybe?) to me. Hamstring injuries are a huge pain because they tend to be chronic (speaking from experience here!). The main things that tend to cause hamstring injury is running uphill and speed work, so try to minimize those two as much as possible before your race! Of course you will want to do some speed work/fast running, just try to keep most of your runs at a nice slow pace. Increasing your cadence/decreasing your stride can help too! Best of luck :)
  • diagostinelli
    diagostinelli Posts: 3 Member
    I should probably see my doctor about it, I just wonder if he will be able to help with a sports injury.

    I looked up ITB syndrome and it sounds like that is likely the issue. I found a video with some strengthening exercises to help with ITB pain. Thanks so much for the lead!

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  • GiddyupTim
    GiddyupTim Posts: 2,819 Member
    I was going to guess that you have an IT band issue, like Stacy said. The IT band starts at the hip and usually produces pain on the outside of the knee. It is a quite common injury.
    You might want to get on the Google and explore that.
    http://www.runnersworld.com/tag/it-band-syndrome
  • diagostinelli
    diagostinelli Posts: 3 Member
    Thank you all!
  • spiriteagle99
    spiriteagle99 Posts: 3,745 Member
    Side of the leg and across the front of the knee is likely to be ITB, back of the leg is likely hamstring. You can run through both but the healing is likely to be very slow. I had a hamstring injury, caused by running too fast while doing speedwork with a group. It took about a year and a half for the pain to go away. I still trained for a marathon, I just avoided all speedwork and did less hill training.
  • BeeerRunner
    BeeerRunner Posts: 728 Member
    diagostinelli wrote: »
    Wondering if anyone can help me figure out what I am doing wrong and what I can do to fix this problem.

    Last June I ran a half marathon. Afterwards I had pain that started at the top/back of my right thigh and extended down to the back and outside of my knee. I tried to keep running but felt it wasn't healing so I took a long break and just started running again in January to start preparing for my next half marathon in June.

    Have any of you other runners experienced this? What am I doing wrong to cause this pain and what can I do to correct it without completely stopping my training program?

    I had the same pain, and it was my hamstring. It was most severe on the backside exterior of my right knee.

    You'll want to go to a Physical Therapist to make a determination. I believe I hurt my hamstring when I was trying to improve my stride with a stronger toe off, and I was using my hamstring to pull my leg back. I should have been using my glutes. However with the rest you took, that should have taken care of it. I couldn't run for about 2 weeks and went to PT 2x a week for about 6 to 8 weeks. I PRd in a HM about 9 weeks after my hamstring strain.

    The PT can watch you run to see if there is something you are doing wrong. He/she can also give you exercises and perform therapies to strengthen whatever is wrong that's causing the issue.

    When the PT says you can run, talk to them about KT tape and how to apply it. It helped me feel so much better when I did return to running.
  • MeanderingMammal
    MeanderingMammal Posts: 7,866 Member
    diagostinelli wrote: »
    Wondering if anyone can help me figure out what I am doing wrong and what I can do to fix this problem.

    Last June I ran a half marathon. Afterwards I had pain that started at the top/back of my right thigh and extended down to the back and outside of my knee. I tried to keep running but felt it wasn't healing so I took a long break and just started running again in January to start preparing for my next half marathon in June.

    Have any of you other runners experienced this? What am I doing wrong to cause this pain and what can I do to correct it without completely stopping my training program?

    That's not ITBS. But I'd suggest seeing a physiotherapist for treatment.

    It sounds more like a glute or hamstring issue, which is addressed through strengthening the glutes. Hillwork, resistance training plyometric etc.
  • TavistockToad
    TavistockToad Posts: 35,719 Member
    Definitely see a physio.

    Resting is good but won't actually solve the problem so it'll just get worse over time without doing some work to strengthen the muscles or improve your form.
  • Jm172017
    Jm172017 Posts: 20 Member
    I am a physical therapist as I would have no idea what is going on without a good evaluation. If you have questions on finding a good PT I can help. Good luck!
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